BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Oh, come on now!" Pavitr complained, bopping the communicator several times with the heel of his palm. He was sitting on the tallest building he could find in Mumbattan, hoping that perhaps getting up that high would help with the reception. But he was having no luck, getting only a busy signal every time he attempted to make a call. "What is wrong with this thing?" he muttered, looking it over. He twisted the communicator around, popping off the back of it before reaching into one of the hidden pockets on his suit and pulling out a tiny screwdriver. "If I could reach you, Hobie, you could help me fix this!" At once he made a face. "That is horribly racist, Pavitr. Not all English people work in technical support. Shame on you." He shook his head and get back to work.

After the fight with the Spot he'd stayed behind to check over the damage to the city and make sure that everything was okay. There had been a few awkward moments, like trying to explain to his Auntie why he had so much concrete dust in his hair or when Gayatri had calle,d worried he'd seen the news showing Spider-Man hugging her and that he'd become jealous.

"Probably was not the best to tell her that I'd love to be hugged by Spider-Man too," he muttered to himself as he continued to work. He'd been finally able to reassure everyone that he was okay and that he wanted to go help volunteer with the relief efforts. And he had gone out planning to do just that… at first. But it had been bugging him about all that had happened: the Spot, the stopping of the canon event, that new black-suited Spider-Man… so he had decided to call Hobie and find out what was going on.

Except his interdimensional phone kept coming up with busy signals.

"You are working perfectly fine!" he complained to the phone, staring down at it. "So why do you refuse to work?" He snapped the cover back on and checked through the apps and saw they were working. He called Famous Original Ravi's and after pranking them (because they had HORRIBLE pizza… not like Original Famous Ravi's which EVERY Mumbattan knew was the only place you went to for good pizza) confirmed that he was able to make calls in his own dimension.

He just couldn't reach Hobie.

And that had him worried.

"Okay," he muttered to himself, running his fingers through his hair. "Okay… perhaps it isn't that bad at all. Perhaps it is completely fine… he could be talking to someone else! Yes… yes, that must be it!" He paused. "He better not have a new best friend!" Pavitr banished that thought from his head. "Just to be safe…" He dialed up the Society's main hotline… while it wasn't merely an emergency hotline he had been warned that it wasn't to be used on frivolous calls which made complete sense. No one wanted to tie up the lines with Spiders calling each other to ask for the best quips. He hit the dial button under his contacts…

"We're sorry, this number has been disconnected. Goodbye."

Pavitr stared at his phone in shock.

"What?" he whispered, trying again.

"We're sorry, this number has been disconnected. Goodbye."

"…what?" Pavitr repeated. It wasn't possible.

Now truly nervous Pavitr pulled his sleeve down a touch to get to his multiverse-hopping bangle (he was sure it had another name but he liked bangle) and moved to activate it-

-only for a gloved had to grab his wrist, stopping him.

"I wouldn't do that just yet," the woman said.

Pavitr only didn't fall into a defensive stance because his Spider Sense didn't go off. Still, she was a stranger to him. Another Spider, that was clear, what with her red and white outfit, but she was very pale with fiery red hair. Older than him too, possibly old enough to be his mother, but still attractive and Pavitr instantly reminded himself he had a girlfriend. The other thing he noticed was that she was taller than him, which wasn't TOO unusual as a lot of Spiders were taller than him, but the way she held herself made her seem like she was towering over him.

"Uh… okay?" he said slowly. "I'm assuming you are from the Society."

"Kind of," she said. "Pavitr… I think you are very smart-"

"Of course I am!" he said, throwing his arms out wide. "Of course the Society is full of smart people too… don't ever sell yourself short." He wagged his finger at her playfully.

That caused the red head to chuckle. "Pav… promise me you will always be this cheerful." He shrugged… that was easy! Everything always worked out for him! Even when things were bad he always found a way to find the positive. Yes, he'd lost his uncle… but he'd moved on to his next life and Pavitr knew that he was having an even better one than he'd had before. It was why he worked to save everyone… his Uncle might be one of the lives he saved! "I'm guessing you noticed that things are going a bit… odd… with the Society?"

"I am trying to reach them and I can't."

"I can help with that but not here. But I need you to trust me."

Pavitr considered her for a long moment.

"Okay…" he gestured towards her, looking for her name.

"Spinneret," she informed him. "Well, my real name is Mary Jane Parker but you'll find that is a bit confusing where we are going."

"Where-"

But before he could finish Pavitr suddenly found himself shifted to entirely new location. He stumbled for a moment, grabbing onto a table, his sensing screaming but not in a bad way. It wasn't danger more 'hey, something happened here!' sort of way. And the place he found himself in didn't seem dangerous either. In fact it rather reminded him of some of the chai places that his Auntie would go to; not his preferred ones, as he liked the more open aired establishments. The room he was in reminded him of the old gothic style ones, with its dark browns and reds, large oak table and matching chairs, and heavy curtains that blocked out outside light and left only the tall ivory candles to illuminate everything.

He also noticed that there were a lot of women in the room.

"Uh… hello?" he said with an awkward wave.

"Its okay, Pavitr," one woman, dressed in rugged and practical clothes and sporting a camera that hung around her neck, said, "I know this is confusing but we're going to explain."

"Well that's good," he said only to blink. "Wait… do… do all of you know who I am?" He looked at Spinneret. "That wasn't very nice. It is my secret. How would you like if I revealed your secrets!"

"Do you know my secrets?"

"…no but that isn't the point!" he declared with a stubborn huff.

"Ease off, kid," a male voice said and Pavitr turned to see an American man enter. He resembled many of the Peters he'd met only this one was clearly in his late 30s. "You'll learn that these ladies know all the secrets."

"Of course we do, Tiger," Spinnerett said, walking over to the Peter and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "It is our job to make sure you and the other Spiders stay on the proper path."

That made Pavitr frown. "The proper path?"

Peter rubbed the back of his head, looking rather sheepish. "Yeah. See… the thing of it is… and I need you to remember that its okay, it happens… but not always… and I'm not saying-"

"Geez, just spit it out already," another red-headed young woman complained, giving Peter a smirk that had Pavitr squirming like he was a naughty school boy having been caught out of class. "Spiders tend to get so wrapped up in their guilt and their need to save the entire world that they forget to worry about themselves. And that causes them to lose focus on the bigger picture and see things the way they actually are."

Pavitr blinked at that. "I… followed maybe half of that?"

"It means," a familiar voice said that had Pavitr at once tensing, "that you don't stop and actually consider what you are doing. So it is up to us to help you see the truth."

Pav slowly turned, staring at the owner of the painfully familiar voice. "Marya Janvi?"

"Hey Pav… I was REALLY hoping you weren't going to get yourself wrapped up in this mess."

The hero sputtered at that before realizing that Marya Janvi KNEW HIS SECRET IDENTITY. At once his eyes went wide and he dropped his voice. "Pav? Who is this Pav you speak of, citizen?"

But that caused Marya Janvi to fold her arms over her chest and glower at him. "Seriously, Wolf? You are going to try and pull THAT on me? We have been friends for years! I knew about you being Spider-Man before the Council told me." She walked over and flicked a few locks of his hair. "This didn't exactly hide it."

"Heh… everyone has this style?" Pavitr said weakly, not bothering to disguise his voice.

"Again," Peter said, "its okay. It happens. Don't fret too much about it."

Pavitr managed a nod at that, looking at Marya Janvi who was studying him with a tilt of her head. "So… you aren't mad at me?"

"No, of course not!" she assured him. But just as he was getting ready to let out a sigh of relief she added, "I'm annoyed to the Heavens and I am going to make you miserable about not telling me the truth from this life to the next three you have but no, not mad."

"…wonderful," Pavitr said miserably.

"As humorous as this is," someone said and Pavitr turned to find himself watching an old woman with deep dark glasses over her eyes being guided to a chair by two more red-heads. Though with the way she held itself it was less of the two women needing to walk her around obstacles and more of them being her honor guard. "I believe it would be best for us to begin." She settled into a huge wooden chair that, to Pavitrl was more like a throne than a seat at a table. It was beautifully carved, depicting webs and spiders moving about it, and upon it the old woman looked more like a goddess than someone he'd pick groceries up for.

"What is going on?" Pavitr asked Marya Janvi as he took a seat.

"Shhh," she hissed, gesturing towards the older woman.

"Let us start with our guest. Pavitr Prabhakar, my name is Madame Web and I am the leader of the Council of Mary Janes."

"The… Council of Mary Janes?" Pavitr said, rolling the name along his tongue.

"We are a collection of friends and loved ones to the Spiders of the Multiverse," Madame Web stated. "While the Spiders work to protect not just their worlds but others we protect them and the connections between them all… the Great Web." She splayed her hands out. "All is connected, Pavitr. Every person and every action. When a Spider saves a life the Great Web rejoices. When a Spider suffers the web responds, sending something to give them hope and keep them moving. Every action you and your fellow Spiders make sends vibrations along the Web… and it responds."

"If that's so… then why have I never heard about you?" He looked at the gathered women. "And why not let the Spider Society know about you?"

"Because the Spider-Society is corrupt to its core?" another woman muttered under her breath.

"Maria Jae, please," Madame Web said politely but firmly and the woman (Pavitr couldn't tell who, as he hadn't been looking in her direction when she spoke) didn't say another word as Madame Web turned to Pavitr. "The sad fact of the matter is that the Spider Society was not founded to protect the Multiverse." Pav opened his mouth to protest but Marya Janvi grabbed his hand and squeezed it, silently urging him to be quiet and just listen. "I do not mean that the Spider Society is some sinister organization, led by a supervillain sitting in some secret lair, cackling as he gathers his minions. Miguel O'Hara is not evil."

She paused.

"But he isn't well."

Pavitr swallowed at that. "My friend Hobie… he has hinted that there is more to the Society… he has a friend, Chris-"

Madame Web winced and several of the Mary Janes all groaned at that.

"Chris Chase is an entirely different matter and none of us feel like dealing with the headache he brings about," Spinneret stated. When Pavitr shot her a confused look she added, "He's part of the Great Web, the 'Spiderverse' as you know it, but he's connected also to the Chaosverse-"

"It doesn't matter," Madame Web stated, cutting Spinneret off. "We are not here to discuss Chris Chase. We are here to discuss the Spider Society… and I am afraid your friend Hobie is partially right. There is something deeply wrong with the Society… and it comes from its very foundings."

"I know O'Hara said he created it to protect the Multiverse…" Pav stated.

Madame Web smiled at that though. "He has told that story so many times that he has come to believe it. But the truth, Pavitr, is that the Spider Society has its roots go far deeper than that. It was founded not out of heroism… but grief."

"Grief?"

"Miguel O'Hara has led one of the hardest lives in all of the Spiderverse. The loss of family and friends. Of loved ones. His powers came not from a spider but an experiment, forced upon him that leaves him changed in radical ways that even now he struggles against. His enemies forced him to become addicted to a powerful narcotic that he must manage.

"Eventually this became too much for him and he sought out some part of the Multiverse where he might finally find a bit of happiness for himself. And he did…" Madame Web lifted up her tea cup, taking a sip from it. "…for a time."

Pavitr nodded. "I've heard about this. He went to another dimension and took over for another Miguel… but that caused that world to be destroyed. That's what led him to discovering Canon Events."

"Yes," Madame Web said. "That is the story he tells himself."

"…I'm sorry, what?" Pavitr said, blinking in confusion.

"Young man… the world Miguel O'Hara went to… the one he lost… it wasn't destroyed due to anything he himself did. It was destroyed as a result of a Shi'Ar weapon that they used against the Skrulls. Tragic, yes… but not connected to Miguel in any way."

Pavitr slouched in his chair, eyes wide at that news. He didn't doubt it… the raw conviction in Madame Web's words had him believing what she was saying.

"That poor guy," Pav murmured… only to blink when he saw many of the Mary Janes narrowing their eyes or grinding their teeth together. "Uh… that poor guy?" He looked about. "I mean… if he only knew-"

"He did," Spinneret said.

"…what?"

"He knew, Pavitr," Madame Web stated. "I told him all of this. When I first met him… when I first tried to explain why he had lost what he lost."